Armistice Day, observed annually on November 11, marks the anniversary of the armistice signed between the Allied powers and Germany that ended World War I. The agreement took effect on the “eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month” of 1918.
In 1954, the U.S. renamed the holiday Veterans Day to honor American veterans of all wars. It is a federal holiday marked by ceremonies, often at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.
Even though the U.S. now celebrates this date as Veterans Day, other nations still observe the day under its original name or as Remembrance Day.
Actually, the armistice of November 11, 1918, was a temporary cessation of hostilities, and World War I officially ended with the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919. The first Armistice Day was proclaimed by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson in 1919. In 1920, unknown soldiers were buried in Westminster Abbey and under the Arc de Triomphe to represent all the fallen.
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- Source: U.S. Library of Congress.
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- Source: U.S. Library of Congress.
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- Source: U.S. Library of Congress.
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- Source: U.S. Library of Congress.
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- Source: U.S. Library of Congress.
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- Source: U.S. Library of Congress.
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- Source: U.S. Library of Congress.
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- Source: U.S. Library of Congress.
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- Source: U.S. Library of Congress.
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- Source: U.S. Library of Congress.
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- Source: U.S. Library of Congress.
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- Source: U.S. Library of Congress.
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- Source: U.S. Library of Congress.